Twer's Game-Ending Touchdown Grab Lifts Gettysburg

Sophomore receiver Aden Twer caught a 32-yard touchdown pass
from junior quarterback Kody Smith as time expired, and Gettysburg
held off a furious Ursinus rally to win 40-34 in the Centennial
Conference opener for both teams at a hot and humid Shirk Field at
Musselman Stadium.

Gettysburg (1-1, 1-0 CC), which was also playing its home
opener, led 34-10 midway through the third quarter before Ursinus
(0-2, 0-1 CC) rallied with 24 unanswered points, scoring three
touchdowns and converting the two-point conversion on all three.
Quarterback Chris Curran capped the rally with a 1-yard touchdown
run – his second of the game – with 47 seconds left
before running in the conversion himself, setting up a wild
finish.

On just five catches, Twer finished with 179 yards and tied a
school record with three touchdowns receptions on distances of 81,
43, and 32 yards. Smith threw for 291 yards and four touchdowns
– both career highs – on 13-of-22 passing while junior
tailback Ted Delia rushed for a career-best 86 yards on 12 carries
for Gettysburg, which never trailed.

Win the victory, the Bullets won both their home and conference
openers for the first time since 2007.

The two teams continued their history of shootouts after Ursinus
won 49-39 last season and 55-50 in 2009.

"We needed a touchdown," said Twer. "Kody came into the huddle
and said 'This is what's going to happen. I'm throwing a fade, and
I'm throwing it to you, Twer.'

"As I turned back for the ball and tried to get into the air, I
think the defender hit me a little bit and I fell down, so I caught
it down low," Twer explained.

"It was just excitement," he said, on his big catch. "We had
just won the game, and that was the most important thing. My
teammates came running and piled up on me. It was great."

Bryan Ellis rushed for 130 yards on 30 carries for the Bears
while Curran finished with 183 yards and one touchdown on 16-of-36
passing.

Gettysburg outgained Ursinus 461-307.

"It was exciting – probably the biggest play of my life,"
said Smith. "I got to the line and saw that the cornerback pressed
on Aden, and I thought in my mind, 'we've got this.' The o-line
gave me time, I threw it up, and Aden caught it."

"He's the fastest guy on our team," said Gettysburg head coach
Barry Streeter on Twer. "He has good hands, and he had already made
some big plays. The ball was up high enough that he could get up
over the top and make the catch. That's a big, big play – if
that goes to overtime who knows what happens."

Following Curran's game-tying touchdown and two-point
conversion, the Bullets received the ball at their own 40 after the
kickoff went out of bounds. Smith rushed for 12 yards on the first
play of the drive before hitting freshman receiver Bobby Romano
with an 8-yard pass to the Ursinus-40. Then on a third-and-two,
Delia rushed for eight yards to pick up a first down.

The Bullets called their final timeout with five seconds left
before Smith connected with a well-covered Twer, who grabbed the
Hail Mary pass out of the air before falling into the left side of
the end zone for the game-winner.

Senior safety Peter Hak made a career-high 15 tackles and added
a safety for Gettysburg while junior linebacker Mark Covington
added a career-best 10 stops for the Bullets.

The Bullets never trailed after senior Rob Pennella converted
his first collegiate field goal – a 21-yarder with 11:16 left
in the opening quarter. Gettysburg had a first-and-goal at the
Ursinus-1 but the Bears stuffed three consecutive rushes.

Gettysburg added to its lead when sophomore tailback Malcolm
Perry ran for a 1-yard touchdown – his first collegiate TD
– with 7:06 on the first-quarter clock. The snap never got
down in time on the extra point, making it a 9-0 game.

The Bears got on the scoreboard when Michael Bennett kicked a
21-yard field goal with 1:02 left in the quarter. However, it took
the Bullets only one play to answer, as Smith launched a bomb down
the left sideline to Twer, who raced in for an 81-yard touchdown
reception. Pennella's extra point made it 16-3 with 41 ticks
showing.

Curran's first TD run cut it to 16-10 with 8:04 left in the
first half before the Bullets reeled off an 18-0 run spanning the
second and third quarters. Pennella knocked through his second
field goal – this one from 34 yards – to make it a
19-10 game at the half.

Ursinus received the second-half kickoff, but on the third play
of the drive senior cornerback Tyler Fasanella came up with an
interception at the Bear-43. The Smith-Twer connection struck again
on the very next play, with Smith finding a wide-open Twer down the
right sideline off a fake pitch. The 43-yard touchdown pass put
Gettysburg up 26-10 with 13:10 left in the third quarter.

The Bullets extended their lead to 28-10 four plays into the
ensuing drive. Ursinus lined up to punt at its own 35, but a bad
snap rolled all the way into the end zone, where Hak and several
defenders tackled punter Derek Giannetti.

Gettysburg enjoyed its largest lead of the game with 8:53 to go
in the third quarter, when freshman wing Freddy Caruso scored on a
nice catch-and-run down the right sideline from 23 yards out. The
extra point was missed, making it a 34-10.

Fullback Teddy Conrad capped a 71-yard Ursinus drive with an
8-yard touchdown run with 4:45 left in the quarter before Curran
hit Seth Cardene on the conversion. Then after the Bears forced a
three-and-out, Curran tossed a 33-yard touchdown pass to Al
Desiderio, and his conversion pass to Nick Giarratano made it a
one-possession game (34-26) with 2:35 leftin the third quarter.

Both defenses stepped up in the fourth quarter, as the first
five drives resulted in either a punt, turnover on downs, or an
interception. The Bears received an excellent scoring opportunity
when a Chris Salaga interception gave his team that ball at the
Gettysburg-19 with 7:05 on the clock, but Gettysburg's defense held
strong. With the Bears facing a fourth-and-seven at the Bullet-16,
Covington broke up a pass with a bone-jarring hit in the backfield
to give his team the ball on downs. But Gettysburg went
three-and-out before Ursinus drive 51 yards on seven plays for its
game-tying drive.